Day-long protests in Kolkata over bail granted to Ghosh and Mondal in RG Kar case

Kolkata is set to witness a day of protests on Saturday, as the medical fraternity and common people express their outrage over the granting of “default bail” to two individuals accused of evidence tampering in the case related to the rape and murder of a junior doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital.

The bail was granted due to the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) failure to file the charge sheet within 90 days of the arrests.

On Friday, a special court in Kolkata granted “default bail” to Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of R.G. Kar, and Abhijit Mondal, the former SHO of Tala Police Station. Both are accused of misleading the investigation and tampering with evidence.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) has announced a day-long protest on Saturday, primarily targeting the CBI for its failure to file the charge sheet on time. At 2 P.M., the WBJDF will organize a protest rally to the CBI’s special crime unit office at the Central Government Office (CGO) complex, demanding that the agency take moral responsibility for the failure.

In addition, two other medical organizations, the Medical Service Centre and Nurse’s Unit, will hold parallel rallies on Saturday. At the same time, ‘Abhaya Manch’, a platform representing common people from various walks of life, will hold a protest at Rani Rashmoni Road in central Kolkata, with WBJDF representatives joining in.

These medical bodies have issued an open call for the public to join the rallies in large numbers.

WBJDF representatives have also hinted that they may resume their “ceasework protests,” which they had previously called off a few months ago for the larger public interest.

“A number of influential people are associated with the R.G. Kar tragedy. Our question is whether justice can be achieved even if such influential individuals are involved,” said a WBJDF representative.